This invention relates to the field of soft sided insulated containers. In particular it relates to soft sided insulated containers having a division between zones to permit different environments to be established in the different zones.
In recent times, soft sided insulated containers have become popular for carrying either articles that may best be served cool, such as beverages or salads, or warm, such as appetizers, hot dogs, and so on. Such containers are frequently used to carry liquids, whether hot liquids, such as soup containers, coffee or tea, or cold liquids such as beer, pop, juices and milk. The containers are typically made in a generally cube like shape, whether of sides of equal length or not, having a base, four upstanding walls, and a top. The top is generally a lid which opens to permit articles to be placed in, or retrieved from, the container.
It may also be that, along with objects to be carried in a chamber at one temperature, another type of food may also be desired, requiring a different environmental condition. For example, it may be inconvenient for persons going to a picnic to carry a different insulated container for each type of food. They may prefer a single container that permits more than one type of food to be carried. That is, it may be preferable to have one zone in the insulated container for a cold, or very cold item, such as ice cream, and another zone for cool items, such as fruit or drinks. Alternatively, one zone may contain canned drinks in ice, while another zone contains warm or hot foods such as pizza or hamburgers. Temperature is not the only determining factor. For example, while an ice filled zone may be damp inside, other objects, such as bread or some fruits and vegetables, may need a less moist environment.
It is not necessary that segregated containers for maintaining materials in a generally warm, hot, cool, or cold condition be placed side-by-side, but could be placed one above the other. Hard shell metal lunch boxes have a roughly semi-cylindrical upper portion that can be equipped with a clip to hold a flask in place. The lower portion of the hard shell metal container is then used to carry sandwiches or other food. Such a structure may tend not to have a partition to segregate temperature zones, and may tend to employ a relatively hard, sharp cornered enclosure that is not easily squeezed or collapsed, as may be desirable, and may tend not to have insulated walls.
In typical use, the upper portion of a metal lunch bucket is adapted to carry a drink container, such as a canned drink or cylindrical bottle, and the lower portion of the lunch bucket is used for carrying food, generally a sandwich, some fruit such as an apple, a banana or an orange, and possibly a container for a food such as apple sauce or pudding. An advantage of a lunch box having a lower portion, and upper portion, and a handle on the top of the upper portion, is that the food inside the lunch bucket may tend to be carried in the same orientation as it is packed. Carriage of a container of apple sauce (or soup) on its side may tend to lead to unhappy results if the lid of the soup container leaks.
In metal lunch boxes, the physical strength of the lunch box is far beyond that required merely to carry a sandwich and a drink. Some metal lunch boxes have sufficient strength to support the weight of a person sitting on them. An advantage of such strength at a construction, mining, or forestry site, is that the metal lunch box may tend to resist being dented, and may provide protection for the kinds of insulated containers in which coffee, hot chocolate, soup or other liquid may be carried, as well as for sandwiches. This strength is well beyond the level of strength generally required for a school lunch box for students.
By contrast to metal lunch boxes, soft-sided, insulated lunch boxes tend to be sufficiently compliant to be crushed to a small size when empty, and are not intended to resist heavy blows from external objects. They are, moreover, clearly not intended to have the strength to support any significant portion of a person""s weight. Some types of soft-sided food carrying cases tend to have box-like rectangular sides. These cases are placed on their largest side for loading and unloading. The opposite side is opened to permit food or other objects to be loaded, and once loaded, the case is lifted by a carrying strap attached to a pair of sides. When carried in this way, the food placed inside is immediately tipped over. This may tend to yield squashed sandwiches and crushed cookies. Placement of the handle on the large, or top, side tends to be cumbersome, and the top panel may tend not to have the body to resist bending, resulting in the vertical sides being pulled inward.
It is advantageous to have a lunch carrying sack or container having a pair of segregated chambers lying one above the other, such that the food may be carried in the same general orientation in which it is packed, and yet to employ insulated soft sides such that the container will tend not to damage objects it contacts, and may tend to keep food warm or cool as desired. A typical insulated panel has an inner skin, an outer skin, and a closed cell foam middle layer. Insulated panels tend to be able to retain their shape under modest loads. Rather than having the relatively cumbersome rectangular shape, a bucket having a lower portion, an upper, domed portion, and a handle running along the crest of the dome tends to have a tall, rather than wide or flat profile, and tends to reduce the width of the top panel. Further, forming the longitudinal member of the top panel on a pair of curved ends may tend to yield a structure that is stiffer than a flat panel, only modest strength being required for carrying a lunch.
In an aspect of the invention, there is a soft-sided insulated container assembly. It has a lower portion having a rectangular base having a pair of long edges and a pair of short edges. It has soft-sided insulated front and rear walls attached to, and extending upwardly from, the long edges, and soft-sided insulated end walls attached to, and extending upwardly from, the short sides. The front and rear walls and the end walls co-operate with the base to define the lower portion. An upper portion is mounted above the lower portion. The upper portion has a pair of end walls. Each of the end walls has a lower margin mounted adjacent to one of the end walls of the lower portion, and an upper edge. The upper edge has a downwardly concave arcuate profile, and a soft-sided insulated spanning wall extending between the end walls of the upper portion. The spanning wall conforms to the concave arcuate profile.
In an additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the front, rear and end walls of the lower portion have respective upper margins. The spanning wall of the upper portion has front and rear lower margins. The lower portion is joined to the upper portion by a hinge. The hinge is connected to the upper margin of the rear wall of the lower portion and to the rear lower margin of the spanning wall of the upper portion.
In another additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the container has a center of gravity and has a suspension member attached thereto at a location above the center of gravity whereby, when carried by the suspension member, the lower portion will hang below the upper portion.
In still another additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the spanning wall has a crest, and the container has a handle mounted along the crest, whereby, when carried by the handle, the lower portion is below the upper portion.
In an aspect of the invention, there is a soft sided, collapsible, insulated container assembly. It has a first soft-sided insulated container portion, a second soft sided container portion and a common wall shared between those first and second portions. The first container portion has an insulated wall structure and a first chamber defined therewithin. The second container portion has an insulated wall structure and a second chamber defined therewithin. The common wall segregates the first and second chambers from each other. The first chamber is maintainable at a different environmental condition from the second chamber.
In an additional feature of that aspect of the invention, one of the insulated container portions has a liner for containing liquids mounted within its respective chamber. In another additional feature, both of the insulated container portions have liners for containing liquids therein. In a further additional feature, the liner has a lowest extremity and an upper lip, and the liner is seamless to a depth of at least half the height from the lowest extremity to the upper lip. In a further additional feature, the liner is removable from its respective chamber. In a still further additional feature, the container has a partition member mounted within the liner. In an additional feature of that additional feature, the partition member includes a stiffening element. In another additional feature of that additional feature, the partition includes a thermally insulative layer for discouraging heat transfer through the partition. In still another additional feature, the liner has a fitting for engaging the partition, and the partition is movable to a plurality of positions in engagement with the fitting. In still yet another additional feature, the respective chamber has a plan form section, the partition is moveable to lie in a horizontal orientation relative to the chamber, and, in that horizontal position, the partition has a shape to match the plan form section.
In another aspect of the invention there is a soft sided insulated container assembly comprising a first insulated container portion, a second insulated container portion and a common wall shared between the first and second container portions. The first container portion has an insulated wall structure and a first chamber defined therewithin. The second container portion has an insulated wall structure and a second chamber defined therewithin. The common wall is located to segregate the first and second chambers from each other. The common wall has a hinge mounted along an edge thereof The hinge permits the first container portion to move relative to the second container portion. The first chamber is maintainable at a different environmental condition from that of the second chamber.
In an additional feature of that aspect of the invention, one of the insulated container portions has a liner for containing liquids mounted within its respective chamber. In another additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the common wall has a receptacle mounted thereto. The receptacle has an interior for receiving a thermal energy storage element. The receptacle has a vented portion to permit air from one of the chambers to communicate with the interior. In still another additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the container has a receptacle for receiving a thermal energy storage element. The receptacle is mounted within one of the chambers, and a thermal energy storage element is mounted therein. In yet another additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the receptacle is mounted to the common wall.
In a further additional feature of that aspect of the invention the first chamber has an opening and the common wall is moveable from a first position closing the first chamber, to a second position permitting access to the chamber. The common wall has a periphery and a closure member mounted to at least a portion of the periphery and at least a portion of the opening of the first chamber. The closure member controls the opening of the common wall relative to the first chamber.
In a still further additional feature of that aspect of the invention the common wall is a partition member lying between the first and second chambers. The partition member has a closure member mounted thereto for controlling opening of the partition member relative to the second chamber. In yet another additional feature of that aspect of the invention the partition includes a thermally insulative layer for discouraging heat transfer through the partition. In a further additional feature of that aspect of the invention the partition has a receptacle mounted thereto for receiving a thermal energy storage element. The receptacle has venting oriented toward one of the first and second chambers, and, when a thermal storage element is mounted in the receptacle, air from the one chamber can communicate therewith through the venting.
In a still further additional feature of that aspect of the invention the first chamber is a lower chamber, the second chamber is an upper chamber, and the common wall is a partition located above the first chamber. The partition is moveable to open and close the first chamber. The common wall is a partition located below the second chamber. The partition is moveable to open and close the second chamber. The partition has an upper face upon which, in use, objects can rest. The receptacle has a lower face, and a receptacle mounted adjacent to the lower face. The receptacle is exposed to the first chamber. The partition has a peripheral wall extending about the upper face for discouraging the objects from being displaced from the upper face in use.
In another aspect of the invention there is a soft-sided container assembly. A first insulated wall structure has a primary chamber defined therewithin. A second insulated wall structure has a secondary chamber defined therewithin. The second insulated structure is removably locatable within the first insulated wall structure. The primary structure has a receptacle mounted therewithin for containing a thermal energy storage element. The receptacle is vented to permit air exchange between the first chamber and the receptacle.
In an additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the primary structure has a first portion, a second portion, and a closure member operable to permit the first portion to be displaced relative to the second portion, thereby giving access to a first volume defined within the first portion, and a second volume defined within the second portion. The primary structure has a divider mounted between the first and second portions. In a further additional feature of that aspect of the invention the divider is suspended between the first and second volumes, and has a receptacle mounted thereto for receiving a thermal energy storage element. In a still further additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the divider is releasably attachable to the primary structure along at least a portion thereof. The divider is moveable between an open position for facilitating access to the second volume.
In yet another additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the first portion is a lower portion of the structure having a rectangular base wall and an upstanding wall having front, rear, left and right hand side portions extending upwardly of the base. The second portion is an upper portion having a pair of ends and a longitudinal member extending between the ends. The longitudinal member has a lower rear edge. The upper portion is hingedly attached to an upper edge of the rear side portion and to the lower rear edge of the longitudinal member. The primary structure includes a divider suspended between the first and second portions. The divider is moveable to facilitate access to the first portion. The divider has the receptacle mounted in a suspended position relative thereto.
In another additional feature of that aspect of the invention the first and second insulated wall structures are attachable to each other to discourage relative movement therebetween in use.
In another aspect of the invention there is a soft sided insulated container assembly. A first soft-sided insulated wall structure has a rectangular base, and rectangular sides extending upwardly from the rectangular base. The first insulated wall structure has a first insulated chamber defined therewithin. A second soft-sided insulated wall structure has a pair of end walls. The end walls have upper margins defining a lid contour, and a longitudinal wall extending between the end walls and conforming to the lid contour. The second insulated wall structure defines a second insulated chamber therewithin. The second insulated wall structure is locatable above the first insulated wall structure. An insulated divider is mounted between the first and second insulated wall structures to segregate the first chamber from the second chamber.
In an additional feature of that aspect of the invention the second soft-sided insulated wall structure is pivotally mounted relative to the first soft-sided insulated wall structure. In another additional feature of that aspect of the invention the end walls have respective first and second lower margins. The longitudinal panel has a front lower margin and a rear lower margin. The first, second, front and rear margins define an opening of the second chamber. In still another additional feature of that aspect of the invention the assembly has a hinge mounted to the rear lower margin and a closure mounted to the divider and to the first, second and front margins. The closure member is operable to permit the second chamber to be opened relative to the divider. In still yet another additional feature of that aspect of the invention the divider has a receptacle mounted thereto, and a thermal energy storage element mounted therein. In a further additional feature of that aspect of the invention the divider has an upwardly facing surface and a peripheral retainer mounted to the upwardly facing surface.
In another aspect of the invention, there is a soft sided insulated container assembly. There is a first soft-sided insulated wall structure. A second soft-sided insulated wall structure has a pair of end walls. The end walls have upper margins defining a lid contour, and a longitudinal wall extending between the end walls and conforming to the lid contour. The second soft-sided insulated wall structure is locatable above the first soft-sided insulated wall structure. The first and second soft-sided insulated wall structures co-operate to define a first chamber therewithin. A closure member is mounted to the first and second soft-sided insulated wall structures. The closure member is operable to permit displacement of the first soft-sided insulated wall structure relative to the second soft-sided insulated wall structure to give access to the first chamber. A third soft-sided insulated wall structure defines a second chamber therewithin. The third soft-sided insulated wall structure has a closure member operable to give access to the second chamber. The third soft-sided insulated wall structure is locatable within the first chamber. The third soft-sided insulated wall structure is removable from within the first chamber.
In an additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the first soft-sided insulated wall structure has a rectangular base, and rectangular sides extending upwardly from the rectangular base. The longitudinal wall has a crest along the uppermost portion thereof. The assembly has a suspension member mounted thereto by which the assembly can be carried, and, when carried by the suspension member, the crest is above the base.
In another additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the suspension member is chosen from the set of suspension members consisting of a handle mounted to the longitudinal member and a carrying strap mounted to the second soft-sided insulated wall structure. In a further additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the third soft-sided insulated structure has a releasable attachment element operable to discourage motion of the third soft-sided insulated wall structure relative to the chamber when mounted therewithin. In still another additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the releasable attachment element is a hook-and-eye fabric strip. The chamber has an internal wall, and the internal wall has a mating hook-and-eye fabric strip mounted thereto.
In yet another additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the first soft-sided insulated wall structure defines a first portion of the first chamber, and the second soft-sided insulated wall structure defines a second portion of the first chamber, and the third soft-sided insulated wall structure is mountable within the first portion of the first chamber.
In another additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the first soft-sided insulated wall structure has an upper peripheral margin. The second soft-sided insulated wall structure has a lower peripheral margin. The first and second soft-sided insulated wall structures are joined by a hinge mounted along respective portions of the upper peripheral margin and the lower peripheral margin. The hinge is operable to permit pivotal motion of the second soft-sided insulated wall structure relative to the first soft-sided insulated wall structure in the manner of a hinged lid. The closure member is mounted to other respective portions of the upper and lower peripheral margins.
In still another additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the first chamber includes a first portion defined within the first soft-sided insulated wall structure, and a second portion defined within the second soft-sided insulated wall structure. A flap is suspended between the first and second portions. The flap is moveable to facilitate access to at least one of the portions. In yet another additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the flap has a pocket mounted thereto and a thermal energy storage element contained therein.